


Once More!

by BialystockAndBloom, Kallifrey



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Characters Tagged As They Appear, Gen, LGBTQ Character, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Post Year 2, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24637732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BialystockAndBloom/pseuds/BialystockAndBloom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kallifrey/pseuds/Kallifrey
Summary: Mankai Company's popularity has soared, and with it comes its own set of troubles. Despite the addition of tours and extended play runs their following still wants more, and actors have found themselves overworked and risking burnout. Attempting to expand and save the company before it collapses once more, Mankai opens its doors to a crew of new members, here to supplement and support the original cast. But will the rookies have the skill and drive to take on the workload that comes with joining a company stretched thin?
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Kudos: 2





	Once More!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mankai Company begins a new chapter in its story. Now let's meet the boys who will affect the reputation of Mankai, depending on their skills.

“Good practice everyone!” Izumi praised as she clapped her hands together.

Spring troupe was hard at work preparing for their upcoming performance, but as she wrapped up the practice, she mentally noted how exhausted they all were. The company had only just finished their first mixed play of the year, and now Spring was working on their main performance. In a month and a half, Winter troupe would be going on tour for their most recent performance and after that would be another mixed troupe play. On top of that, their fans were demanding more shows with longer runtimes. As much as Mankai wanted to give their faithful audience what they wanted, they were spread thin, and couldn’t handle the additional strain. They could barely keep on top of everything as it was. Maybe she could ask Sakyo about possible options for everyone. With a final “otsukaresama” as the last member filtered out, Izumi gathered the last of her things and headed off to find the stingy financial supervisor of the company.

Izumi made her way to the lounge room of the dorms after putting her things away, bringing only a notebook with her, within which she had a list of every point she intended to make to Sakyo. Looking around she saw only Tsuzuru, who looked deep in thought at his laptop with an untouched plate of onigiri beside him.

“Tsuzuru-kun!” she called politely, “Have you seen Sakyo-san around?”

Tsuzuru looked up, seeming more exhausted than the rest of Spring had. As the company playwright, he did have the most work, writing new plays almost constantly. Plus, until half an hour before, he’d been hard at work at practice. Maybe recruiting someone to assist him would be one of the first things they ought to do, Izumi thought.

“Not recently,” he replied.

“Alright, thanks anyway Tsuzuru,” the director thanked, as she turned to leave again, maybe she’d just try to call him. As the thought crossed her mind, she heard the front door click and sure enough, Sakyo entered the lounge. “Sakyo-san!” She called out before he’d even made it through the lounge door.

“Ah, Kantoku-san,” he replied as he shut the door behind him, “What do you want at this hour?” It sounded like he’d been busy all day and had only stopped by for something from the kitchen before retreating to his room. Maybe this was a bad time… “Don’t back out after clearly having been looking for me.” He stated in a cold, calm tone.

“Well, you see… I have a few things to discuss with you about the company…”

\---

Yuuto was a simple man. He worked as a low-level editor for a publishing firm, Sugawara Literature Limited. He was never involved in any major projects; he was assigned mostly first-time authors, people whose first book would almost certainly be their last. He made a decent salary, as far as editors go - nothing extravagant, but enough to afford a small apartment and keep the lights on.

Yuuto’s dream was not necessarily to be an editor. It was a fine job, of course, and every time a book he helped with actually got published, he felt a pang of joy in his heart, knowing that in some way, he forever contributed to the literary world. Of course, his recognition would only be a brief mention in the foreword or afterword, but he would still know that he contributed to something much bigger than himself.

However, that small amount of gratitude he felt was still… small. He was proud of his job - of course he was - but he’d be a liar if he said he was satisfied with just picking up the crumbs of appreciation that his authors deigned to give him. He wanted to be more well-known. He wanted people to see his name, years in the future, and say, “Of course, Watanabe Yuuto! The famous author!”.

On January 18th, Watanabe Yuuto finally gathered the courage to pitch his novel to his supervisor at his publishing firm and take his first step into gaining renown as an author.

“Under no circumstances are we going to publish your novel, Watanabe-kun.”

Yuuto stood in his boss’ office, baffled. “I… I understand and respect your decision, Sugawara-san, but… why not?”

He sighed and rose from his desk. “Watanabe-kun, you are an editor. I pray you know what that means - it means you edit the works of others for a living. I know how you feel. You feel like you’ve read all these books, and all these articles, and all these novels, and you’ve fixed them. And you’ve done a wonderful job at fixing them! But let me ask you this, Watanabe-kun. Say that a pipe bursts in your house. Who would you call?”

“I would call a plumber, sir.”

“Exactly. Now, if you wanted to build a house - to design it from scratch, to make sure it’s structurally sound, to lay the foundation, to set up the framework, to put in the wiring, to install the gas lines, to shingle the roof, to decorate the rooms - would you trust a plumber to do all of that?”

“I… no, Sugawara-san. I would not.”

“Very good. Mind you, there’s no shame in being a plumber; it’s a wonderful job to have! But a plumber tends to a plumber’s work.” He sat back down at his desk, studying the first draft of a new mystery novel. “You are dismissed, Watanabe-kun.”

“Yes. Thank you, sir.”

For the rest of his shift, Yuuto stared blankly at his desk, before writing down some vague advice over “double-checking grammar usage and punctuation” for his client. How do you respond to something like that, when someone tells you that you should give up on following your dream? Yuuto had a few ideas. One of them was to go home, down a bottle of cheap, convenience store liquor, and call in sick the following morning. Another more fantastical idea was to run off to a new town with a new name and pretend to be an already-famous author, and use his faux fame to get a lucrative publishing deal.

What he ended up doing was treating himself to see the latest Mankai Company production.

He only lived a few blocks away from the iconic Veludo Way; in fact, he passed the street on his way home. In some respects, it would be harder not to go see the show. Plus, as someone working in the publishing business, he adored theater. It was always a breath of fresh air to see what the world of art was like outside of his little literary bubble.

So, he thought, it was settled. On his way home, he’d stop by the theater, see whatever play they were showing, go to bed, and hope that the following morning, he’d feel better.

The theater was crowded when he got there - there was buzzing about how this was the Winter Troupe’s greatest show yet. He looked down at the show’s program, all-black with plain white text reading, “A Final Goodbye to Yoshida Taiyou” in the shape of a coffin. He heard it was some kind of drama with a supernatural twist. Sounds interesting, he thought.

To say it was interesting would be an understatement, as he later realized. He was enthralled throughout the entire performance. It centered on the eponymous Taiyou, a proud, cocksure salaryman, in a strange, Limbo-like dimension. It was revealed immediately that Taiyou was dead, and was in a sort of waiting room where he would await judgment. He was accompanied by only one other, a friendly, cheery shopkeeper. While initially, Taiyou was positive he would be granted access to Paradise, his doubts grew as he saw flashes of his previous life, where he treated his wife and children poorly. His doubts further grew as he witnessed his confident shopkeeper companion get dragged to Damnation by a league of demons, shortly before he learns that despite his affable nature, he was a serial killer. Taiyou made a final plea to his family for forgiveness, trying to atone for the way he treated them despite knowing there’s no way that he could do anything to actually make up for his actions now that he’s dead.

Curiously, Taiyou’s fate was never revealed. It only showed that in the world of the living, his family grieved for him despite knowing he was a bad person and that their lives were better without him. The wife ended the play by musing how maybe nobody is truly all good or all bad as his body was lowered into the ground, a true “final goodbye” for Yoshida Taiyou.

Yuuto couldn’t sleep that night nor the next. He was too excited by the play he’d seen. It was depressing, of course, but it was mature, well-made, and brilliant. It reminded him more of something he’d have read in his Classics class in college than an amateur stage show.

Yuuto wanted to learn everything he could about the author of the show.

Over the next few months, Yuuto found himself keeping tabs on the Mankai Company, investing his time into researching it as a way to distract himself from his recent rejection. Luckily for him the Company was extremely busy, always working on a new production, so he always had a new show to look forward to.

Soon enough it was March, and he was still editing and wallowing in pity. That was, until he looked at the site for the theater troupe to keep himself motivated. A new announcement on the site lit the fire in him once again. “Mankai Company - now accepting new actors!”

That did it for Yuuto.

If his job wouldn’t let him follow his old dream, he’d follow a new one, one full of life and promise. If he couldn’t publish his own work, then he could die a happy man working side-by-side such a brilliant mind as the author of A Final Goodbye to Yoshida Taiyou.

He told himself, then and there, that on the date of the auditions, April 1st, he’d be at the front doors of Mankai Theater.

\---

Staring out the window at school was the only way the high-schooler knew how to pass the time. It’d been a long time since he had felt much enjoyment in his daily life. All he wanted was for the bell to ring so he could get home. When the final bell finally rang, he packed up his things quickly and made his way out of the school. On his way out he heard someone shout for his attention and he replied in falsified high spirits, “Ah! Sorry!! I’ve got to run home for something, I’ll meet you some other time, okay?” He used to love hanging out with his friends, but in recent months things had been lacklustre. He missed too much of his old life lately.

Once off of school property, the boy made his way to Veludo way. It was the busiest street in the direction he needed to go, and he didn’t like hanging out on side streets - the idea of violence freaked him out. With so many people around he could freely immerse himself in the world of his phone, however, so there was another bonus to taking this particular route. Scrolling through his feed absentmindedly, he suddenly stopped upon seeing a particular handle pop up. Jihwan C-Project. The lead vocalist of the insanely popular K-pop group C-Project stated a blurb about how the group was to be going on tour again in the next year. The student had to do everything in his power not to jump for joy. Hopefully, they’d be coming to Japan! It’d been forever since he’d had the opportunity to see the group in person! As soon as the thought passed, he stopped in his tracks and gave a downcast look at the ground. What he wouldn’t give to go back to Korea, he thought. He missed his home country with his whole being.

It was at that moment that he heard a voice ring out across Veludo Way. The unmistakable confidence of someone drawing attention to a street act. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he moved to continue on. Street acts happened here all the time, and just now he wasn’t in the mood to watch one.

As he continued on, lost in his own mind, he found himself almost running into someone, and he would have if not for a second person pulling the other out of his way.

“My lord!” the second began, holding the first as though he were someone to protect. “Now is not the time to be stalling! There is much to see! So many things to do! How can you stand idly by doing nothing? Even the citizens are in a daze with how wonderful the world is!”

“You accuse me of such idility when you are failing your own job by allowing a commoner to reach such a proximity to my presence!” The first glared at the other from behind sunglasses.

“Such is the reason we have left the castle! You need to understand what it’s like to be common, my good sir -”

Before the young Korean could even process what was happening, it was clear he’d been swept into the fantasy of a street act. “My prince!” he exclaimed, bowing politely as he joined the act on impulse, and he heard murmurs from the crowd as they assumed his appearance must have been planned. “What an honour it is to see you, it has been years since you’ve left castle grounds. The townsfolk will be so pleased to hear of your visit! Please, let me show you around.”

The one acting as the advisor to the prince seemed surprised as he joined, but the sunglasses-clad prince covered swiftly. “Such an act would be too much of a hassle, if you tell the town, news of my visit will spread faster than you could control and this visit would be for naught.”

“Yes, yes” The advisor recovered, “However a tour wouldn’t be all bad you know, think of it as part of your training…” Having been officially invited into the act, the student found himself having more fun than he’d had in months. Adrenaline ran through his veins and serotonin flooded his brain. By the end he’d nearly forgotten how he had wound up a part of it to begin with; it felt so natural. As the crowd dispersed, the two actors pulled him off to the side and he lowered himself into a deep bow.

“I’m so sorry for interrupting!” He began, “But that whole experience was amazing.” His mouth was moving faster than his brain could keep up. “Please! Tell me how I can do this again!”

The younger of the two released a laugh and brushed his hand through deep purple hair, “Of course! We’re with the Mankai Company, and as you’d have it, we’re hiring!” A flyer seemed to materialize in his hand and the Korean kid looked it over with an intensity he usually reserved solely for K-pop content. “I’m Hyōdō Kumon, by the way! You can call me Kumon! And this is Tenma-senpai!”

The older, orange-haired male was looking him over with an expression he wasn’t sure if he liked. “You do seem to have some talent. What’s your name, kid?”

“Shin Ji-tae!”, he burst out before he could control himself. He didn’t know much pop culture beyond his favourite groups, but everyone knew of Sumeragi Tenma.

“Shin Ji-tae, huh? You don’t happen to- no. Nevermind.” Tenma stopped himself from asking exactly the kind of question he himself was tired of answering. Just because he was famous, didn’t mean he knew every other famous person. And simply because this kid had a similar name to the famous lead singer of C-project did not mean they were related.

Ji-tae grinned wide but decided to leave the question alone and glanced back at the flyer before looking at his watch. Oh my. The time. He had to get going! “Mianheyo,” he apologized, slipping back into his mother tongue as he stuffed the flyer into his bag. “Thank you for the experience!” He called back as he waved then sprinted back home.

\---

Music reverberated throughout the house as a modern-styled boy strummed at his guitar. Striking a chord that resonated with him, he paused and jotted down the new development onto sheet music. He continued to do that for another thirty minutes when he felt his phone vibrate… for the third time in a row. He almost ignored the call again, but a tick in the back of his mind told him he should at least check who it was. “Ogawa Hirota” read the caller ID, and he knew he had to answer.

“Moshi, moshi?” He spoke into the phone nonchalantly, pretending he hadn’t just ignored his best friend’s calls.

“Rai-kun! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, what were you doing? I was getting worried,” His anxious friend didn’t let him answer before giving a tense laugh, “Wait, you were working on music again, weren’t you… Of course you were. You do nothing else. What are you going to do when you run out of ideas?”

Raigen didn’t even attempt to argue, he knew it was true, but he was also an artist with a passion. Granted that passion was coming slower lately, but it was still there, and he was going to milk it until he ran dry. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he ever ran out of inspiration. With a groan, he spoke his mind, “I don’t want to think about it. I just want to keep improving my skills and fleshing out my image until I get a breakthrough.”

“If you keep holding yourself hostage in your room to work on music, you’re not ever going to get discovered. If anything, your popularity is going to decline.”

Raigen rolled his eyes, he wasn’t doing this for fame. Besides, he kept up his online image as well as any new artist. He even had a bit of a following. The girls at school had created a fanclub, and if he was going to be honest, that almost made him a bit uncomfortable.

“I’m doing this because I love music, not because I want to be popular. I thought you knew this, so why are you bringing it up again?”

“Oh, you caught me.” Hirota laughed, “I found something that might help out your inspiration spring.”

“No one calls it that, Hirota.”

“Sure, but just hear me out. I found a theatre troupe on Veludo Way that’s hiring new actors and I think you should try out.”

Raigen had to keep himself from choking on his own spit in surprise. “Excuse me!? Hirota, acting is your thing, not mine.”

“Oh come on you know I’m too nervous to try out, I’d break down crying the second I stood on stage. But you - you have the confidence. Imagine all those stories you’ll hear and all the people you’ll meet! I know you don’t hang out with anyone in your free time so stop being lonely and just try it would you?”

“You sure you’re not just talking about your own lack of friends?”

“Sh-shut up Raigen, I don’t need to hear that from you. Just look into it, okay? I’ll send you the link. I gotta go now, mom’s calling for dinner. Be sure to look at it!” Raigen heard the distinct tone of a text received only seconds after the call finished. Since Hirota had gone through the trouble, Raigen knew he had to at least give it a glance.

“Mankai Company, huh?” He spoke to himself, “We’ll see.”

\---

Rainy days were Arata’s favorite. The overcast weather made him feel like he could fade right into the background in the busy city; it was his favorite feeling. As the droplets fell from the sky, he watched them intently, letting the feeling of melancholy seep into his soul with a peaceful smile.

He had never been able to explain the comfort he received from being a background character in others’ lives. His family told him he needed to branch out, be more confident, try harder, make more friends, but he was content. He was happy with who he was, and it wasn’t that he wasn’t confident, he just didn’t see a need to be loud or energetic about things when he didn’t need to.

The only exception to his normal pattern of behavior was while acting. He’d tried it when one of his friends invited him to an event for a troupe that let the audience try out acting and get immediate advice. To his surprise, he’d found himself naturally able to fill any role he was asked to perform; he’d even had fun doing so.

The energy of the troupe members overwhelmed him slightly, but the event had left an impact on his being. On stage he felt like he was someone completely different, not that he wanted to change who he was in everyday life; he was quite fine with that side of himself, but branching out wasn’t too bad.

With a deep sigh in line with the emotions of the rain, Arata turned his attention to his laptop. Since his experience with acting, he’d been looking for a troupe of his own, and hadn’t been having much luck. Tapping away with a few new keywords, the boy pulled up a website with the image of an obviously old red building, the words MANKAI THEATER presented clearly above the doors in red and gold. At the bottom amongst the topics being featured on the site was a note that caught his eye. “Now accepting new members.” Arata found himself fumbling for a pen with uncharacteristic energy, scribbling down the information he needed for the upcoming auditions. Perhaps this would be the beginning of something new for him.

\---

“Isn’t it bliss? Don’t you approve? One who keeps tearing around, one who can’t move... where are the clowns?” Edo Masahito asked himself, as he sang beneath his breath.

It was raining outside at Hanasaki High. It had been raining a lot lately. Maybe that’s part of the reason why he’d been on an _A Little Night Music_ kick. It was one of Sondheim’s more melancholy works (not as acerbic and bitter as _Company_ , nor as outright dark as _Sweeney Todd_ , but still a musical steeped heavily in regret and sorrow), and Masahito could scarcely think of a better soundtrack to the glum world outside his window. Plus, he had an English test earlier in the day, and found that the song helped him remember how the language worked - “isn’t it rich” is properly expanded as “ _is it not rich_ ”, not “ _is not it rich_ ”, and the question was posed as a hypothetical.

“Just when I stopped opening doors,” he continued to quietly sing. “Finally knowing the… finally knowing the… knowing that if I… oh, how does it go?”

He pulled out his phone, trying to find the lyrics. Part of him was embarrassed he’d forget the words to one of musical theater’s most iconic songs, but he’d had a long day. He allowed himself a bit of slack.

“Finally knowing the one I wanted was - aaa!”

He knocked into an underclassman, sending his books to the ground.

“Ahh, oh no! I’m so sorry,” he exclaimed, immediately bending over to help pick up his books.

“Oh, it’s okay. I guess it’s my fault for not paying attention either, hehe.”

As the boy got his bearings again and reorganized his books, he looked up at Masahito. “Wait a second,” he said. “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?”

“Do you?” he responded in confusion. Masahito wasn’t used to having people recognize him. He got a few bit parts in the school musicals, but nothing more than a chorus member. He didn’t even recall having any speaking lines. But still, he was glad that this person remembered him.

“You’re Ushigome-san’s boyfriend, right?”

“...oh. Yes.”

The underclassman squealed in delight. “He’s my favorite player for the Buffaloes! Do you get to go to all his games for free?”

He laughed. “No, I still have to pay to get in.”

“Still, you’re so lucky. Hey, I have to go, but it was nice talking to you. Bye!”

“Bye…”

Masahito sighed as the underclassman walked away. He loved his boyfriend - of course he did, with his entire heart. But sometimes, it hurt only being recognized as the boyfriend of the all-star baseball player. It was a strange, second-hand sort of fame that he wasn’t sure if he enjoyed.

His face turned red as he thought about how excited he was for a moment, that he thought someone actually remembered him from any of the school plays.

“Send in the clowns…” he continued singing, quietly.

 _Don’t bother_ , he thought. _They’re here_.

As he prepared to head home for the day, he noticed something new on the bulletin board. It was a well-designed flyer in pink, yellow, orange, and blue. He vaguely remembered seeing one of the underclassmen putting it up earlier in the day, but he hadn’t paid it any mind then. He figured that he’d at least see what it was about before he left.

“Mark the date! On April 1st, Mankai Company will be holding auditions for new actors!”  
Mankai Company - he’d heard of them before. Something about how they won an acting competition a few years back and won a bunch of money from it. They were apparently a good theater.

Wait.

Maybe Masahito wouldn’t have to be “Ushigome-san’s boyfriend” or “Villager #4 (Chorus) in Aladdin” for the rest of his life. He’d done musicals before, and he knew all about the Broadway scene in America. How could this be any harder?

He smiled as he pulled out his phone and set a reminder - “April 1st, Mankai auditions”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let us know how you feel about the story! And feel free to ask any questions you have about the characters!
> 
> Seriously, ask us about the new boys. If anyone wants we can give character stats in the notes of future chapters.


End file.
